William P. Henry, an original petitioner of Sacramento Lodge, was born in
Pennsylvania about the year 1820. Leaving St. Louis, Missouri in January 1849,
he arrived in San Francisco, California August 30 of that year, making the
passage from Panama to San Francisco on the ship Alexander von Humboldt. From
San Francisco he left immediately for Tuolumne County where for a time he mined
on Wood's Creek on which gold was first discovered in that county, but as the
rainy season approached he came to Sacramento for a brief period and then
returned to St. Louis where he remained until about March, 1852. He then
returned to Sacramento and there installed, for the first time, a waterworks
system which was erected on the left bank of the Sacramento River a little to
the north of the foot of I Street. It consisted of an ordinary suction pipe
connected to a pile driver engine of 5 h.p. by means of which water from the
river was pumped into a tank elevated sufficiently to allow the water to be
emptied into water carts. The water was then delivered from door to door and
sold by the gallon. On January 13, 1853 the citizens of Sacramento voted to
appropriate $125,000 for the construction of waterworks and on October 1 a
contract was completed for the immediate construction of the project. On
November 7, 1853 an ordinance was passed creating the office of Superintendent
of the waterworks and on December 28, 1853, William P. Henry was elected to
serve in that capacity at a salary of $3,000 per annum. The public waterworks
were completed April 1, 1854 at which time the services of Henry apparently
terminated temporarily but he was reelected to the office for the year
commencing April 1855. In 1856 William P. Henry returned to his native State
where he remained until his death at Rockville, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,
on October 15, 1864. He left a widow but no children. The Sacramento Daily
Union of November 30, 1864 says of him - "He was a good citizen, a
warm friend and a genial companion, and there are many in our midst who will
learn of his decease with regret and entertain for his memory a lasting
regard." According to information supplied by the Grand Lodge of Missouri,
Bro. Henry was initiated an Entered Apprentice Mason February 24, 1852, passed
to the degree of Fellowcraft February 26 and raised to the sublime degree of
Master Mason February 28, 1852 in George Washington Lodge No. 9, A. F. & A.
M., St. Louis, Missouri. He dimitted from that Lodge February 28, 1852, on the
same date that he was raised just prior to his departure to Sacramento, where
he assisted in the organization of Sacramento Lodge No. 40. He dimitted from
Sacramento Lodge No. 40 February 4,1859. The records of the Grand Lodge of the
State of Pennsylvania do not indicate that he affiliated with any Lodges in its
jurisdiction.